Broken clutch?!?!
 

Ok, so driving down the road the other day, i heard a loud clunk from my clutch pedal, then it started gettin stuck down to the floor...and id have to pop it back up manually with my foot..well now its parked. Cuz its nearly impossible to get into gear. My buddy came over, and we were looking and i am almost positive it is the aluminum clutch bracket that is broken..and which holds the clutch into place. I called Mazda and that piece is $220, which includes the bracket, clutch pedal, and the springs? Has this happened to anyone else? Or do u know of where or how i could fix this at a lower price? because all i need is the bracket...thanks.

ahhh....squeaky clutch is a sign of breaking?!?!? noooooooo!!!!

happened to me, the cheapest route is taking the assembly out and weld it back together and actually putting new spot welds on it....

you can PM charles R. Hill he makes upgraded replacements. If you search or look at the bottom of your page you'll see this is a common problem.

Search first please and best of luck.

PM nycgps. he seems to be our resident clutch bracket breaking expert.

His name is Jackson and he has organized a complaint process to the NHTSA.

ok, this problem just happened to me 30 min ago on the freeway.

my clutch has been squeaking for a month now and i thought it was nothing but last week i was happy because the squeaky noise was gone. until today, i was traveling on the freeway ready to switch gears 3 to 4 then i pressed the clutch heard a small pop and now the clutch is stuck half way every time. i have to get my foot under the clutch just to pop it back up. but switching into gears still feels smooth the only problem is that its difficult to get into reverse..

have never been so scared driving this car in my life till now, not to mention i was at the dealership 2 days ago for the condensation in the tail lights issue.

so does my situation seem like it was just a weld that came loose? is there any way i can tell?

Also just filed a report with the NHSTA....

also does anyone know if the dealer will cover this under warranty? (still have 5,000) miles left under warranty =/

Fyi:

yea i remember reading that on autoblog before i read it on the rx8club
im just wondering if it is covered under warranty

no it isn't.

it'll be tough to get it covered under warranty but I think some have argued successfully.
If you go in there with the NHTSA notice and apply subtle pressure on the dealership, they might be more inclined to work with you.
Either that or just order one from BHR and when this becomes a recall (because it's certainly headed in that direction), then you can get reimbursed.

well i tried to tell them my story
[GALPIN MAZDA] [So Cal ... off the 405 freeway SFV]

anyways i explained my problem over the phone and they asked me if i could still drive it to them. i said i would risk it since it was only a couple blocks rather than waiting for a tow truck to come in 4 hours. anyways as soon as i got there i explained to them that the clutch pedal seems like it wont retract after the clutch is pushed. i told them that its most likely that the welds have cracked. then he said that it would be $180 just to get it looked at, but since i am in warranty (5,000mi left) it will be free.
3 hours later [waiting room] he comes back to tell me that the welds cracked [explaining it to me as if i had no idea what he meant... even though that was the first thing i told him as soon as i got there] and they covered it under warranty. they were even kind enough to fix my coolant light issue... they replaced the whole assembly.

seems like they were having a good day. a couple days earlier i was there for the condensation in the tail lights... and i had to print out the TSB because they said they have never heard of such a thing, i even asked them to check if there was a TSB, they said no.... well that tech i talked to looked like an ass the next day i brought it in.

Do a praise thread for your dealership in the appropriate forum segment.

Good, friendly dealerships don't get enough kudos on this board, while all the attention goes to the negative, uncooperative dealerships.

i didnt see the friendly part?

i saw the whole "i had to coerce the damn dealership" part.

I just received a confirmation from the NHTSA, and my complaint was filed ab out a year ago. I kept my service receipt and the snapped clutch pedal as I was certain that this would be a safety recall....and hopefully, I can get my 250 dollars back for having to buy a replacement part which is just as faulty as the one that it was replacing.

There is hope in my decision to keep the part and receipt.

In my eyes, a clutch pedal, a gas pedal, a brake pedal....none should ever fail. These are essential components to safety.

Clutch pedal caused catastrophic failure
 

The exact same thing happened to me last night! Same conditions, driving down the road, went to shift gears, pop!

I took my 8 to the dealership this morning, not very far away. The pulled the transmission out. The clutch had burned out after the pedal broke. My clutch pedal didn't break, it bent in half. Total price as of this afternoon $1900 + tax, not to mention the 4 days without my 8. My warranty won't cover the work because it is a clutch problem, normal wear and tear. Up till it happened the clutch operated normally, no slippage, no indication of anything.

Anything that can happen to an RX8 has happened to mine:
- the visors broke on both sides, shorted out the electrical system and blew a fuse both times
- engine replacement at 20k miles
- flooded at 40k miles, had to replace battery after going through the de-flooding procedure and 3 weeks in the dealership.
- replace the front main seal, 2 O2 sensors, all the plugs at 75k miles
- now the clutch pedal, entire clutch, fly wheel...

All in all, total cost of repairs out of pocket, before warranty.... $20k

Once it is all done it will be like a new car.... anyone want to buy an RX8, I'm tired of fixing it...

2004 GT, silver metallic, leather red and black interior, fully loaded, 80100 miles, 20k miles left on the warranty (platinum warranty, bumper to bumper till 100k or July 28th 2011.

I filed a complaint with the DOT NHTSA tonight... I will post any feedback I get.... No doubt that this is a dangerous failure, Mazda should be responsible.

This just happened to me... CRAP!!! I was on a main road which has 65mph speed limit. Went to change gears and pop... stuck to bottom. Car won't start now. I've had it towed to a friend of mines shop since they were getting ready to change the clutch, throw out bearing and pressure plate - but now I've got to ask them to look at the pedal. If this is the case, I'm gonna walk in to the Dealer with the pedal in hand and demand a replacement. We'll see how it goes.

Lucky for me the drivers around me weren't idiots and I was able to coast into a parking lot. Also lucky that I made it into neutral. If it had stayed in 4th gear it may have been different.

call mazda of north america and complain.

dealer will not cover replacement of the clutch pedal...you have two options. One, pay to the dealer install a new one...which for me, was $434.00 including parts and labor. Two, take out the existing pedal and have it welded.

In either case, file a complaint with the NHTSA.

It is amazing to me to know that I was only 1 of 40 people who filed complaints back in 2008, and that they are just now getting to their investigation.

I kept my pedal because I knew this was going to be a wide spread problem. The design and weld work on the existing pedal is poor.

Interestingly, I no longer have my 8, but a Mazda 3, and the clutch pedal is starting to make the same squeek noise the 8 did before the pedal snapped.

I wonder if the parts are the same....?

ya'll know...

This happened to me a couple weeks ago. Until I read this thread, I didn't make the connection that I used to hear that squeaking noise on shifting until about a week before the break. Anyway, I had it towed to Faulkner Mazda in NE Philly (love those guys!) and it was fixed for free. I had 300 miles left before the warranty died. I also saw the bill with the dealer's cost on the bottom and it was only $147.

Y'all might be interested to know that it is the CLUTCH pedal which is prone to failure and not the brake pedal. Y'all might also be interested in knowing that, when welded properly, the backplate provides plenty of strength even though the metal is rather thin and we have never had a failure after welding them (and we have welded dozens of them). Y'all might remember that Race Roots also sells a user-installable bracket assembly with which their customers seem to be happy.

read the advertising rules here https://www.rx8club.com/faq.php?faq=...us_advertising soliciting for people to pm you
for business is against the rules. dont do it again.